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Design optimization of smartphone camera housing fabricated by laser powder bed fusion using thermal analysis

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Abstract

The additive manufacturing (AM) of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) manufactures three-dimensional products by melting metal powders using laser energy and staking repeatedly the fabricated layers. However, residual stress generated by the heat gradient presents a technical challenge for the application of metal AM in commercial products, as excessive residual stress can cause thermal deformation, cracks, and delamination in the products. In this study, the numerical thermal analysis of a smartphone camera housing was performed for various design geometries by applying the inherent strain method. The optimization of the design geometry relieved the maximum deformation by 8.2 %. The simulation results showed excellent agreement with the measured deformation based on the maximum deformation. The method of minimizing thermal deformation and optimizing design geometry was explained in great detail. This demonstrates the possibility of the application of the LPBF technique in practical engineering fields, including mobile phones.

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Abbreviations

P :

Laser power

v :

Scan speed

d :

Line spacing

t :

Layer thickness

VED:

Volumetric energy density

ε :

Residual total strain

ε e :

Elastic strain

ε p :

Plastic strain

ε thermal :

Thermal strain

ε phase :

Phase transition induced strain

ε* :

Inherent strain

K :

Elastic stiffness matrix

u :

Displacement

f* :

Inherent strain induced force

σ :

Residual stress

B :

Corresponding matrix between the nodal displacement and strains in an element

D e :

Material elastic matrix

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by LG Electronics Inc., the Technology Innovation Program (20013794, Center for Composite Materials and Concurrent Design) funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE, KOREA), the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement (KAIA) grant funded by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Grant 20CTAP-C157950-01), and KOREA HYDRO & NUCLEAR POWER CO., LTD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, Korea

    Kyung-Tae Yang, Min-Kyeom Kim, Taehwan Kim & Jonghwan Suhr

  2. IT Development Division, LG Electronics, 10 Magokjungang 10-ro, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, 07796, Korea

    Kyung-Tae Yang & Jae-Hoon Kim

Authors
  1. Kyung-Tae Yang
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  2. Min-Kyeom Kim
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  3. Taehwan Kim
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  4. Jae-Hoon Kim
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  5. Jonghwan Suhr
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonghwan Suhr.

Additional information

Kyung-Tae Yang is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea. He works for LG Electronics as a Chief Research Engineer for the development of smartphones and innovative design devices. His research interests include additive manufacturing and the commercialization of metal 3D printing technology.

Min-Kyeom Kim is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea. His research area is the process design of metal 3D printing, focusing on laser powder bed fusion and wire arc additive manufacturing.

Taehwan Kim is an M.S. student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea. His interests include overall 3D printing technologies. He is studying the thermo-mechanical simulation and design of support structures to minimize residual stress and increase the printing quality of metal additive manufacturing.

Jonghwan Shur is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea. He received a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA in 2005. His research interests include materials design; synthesis and characterization; structural analysis and design; lightweight energy-absorbing composites; and environment-friendly composites.

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Yang, KT., Kim, MK., Kim, T. et al. Design optimization of smartphone camera housing fabricated by laser powder bed fusion using thermal analysis. J Mech Sci Technol 36, 699–708 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-022-0118-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-022-0118-6

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